Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
7-11, 3-2PL
Colgate
9-8, 1-4PL
Bucknell Pulls Past Colgate, 80-75
1/23/2002 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2002
HAMILTON, N.Y. - Boakai Lalugba tallied a game-high 16 points with eight rebounds and Bucknell used a balanced offensive attack to run past Colgate 80-75 in a Patriot League game Wednesday night at Cotterell Court.
The Bison (7-11, 3-2 Patriot League) snapped a six-game road losing streak in league play and remained one game behind first-place American in the Patriot League standings. Colgate fell to 9-8, 1-4 and lost to Bucknell for the seventh time in the last eight meetings.
Bucknell, which led for the game's final 31 minutes, shot a season-high 54.3 percent from the field en route to a season-high 80-point showing. The Orange and Blue received a major spark from Bryan Bailey, who returned to the lineup after a six-game absence due to a knee injury. In 17 minutes off the bench, the senior co-captain contributed 13 points, four rebounds and two assists.
It was Bailey's acrobatic layup that capped a 20-7 first-half run that turned an early five-point deficit into a 27-20 lead with 7:11 remaining in the first half. The hot-shooting Bison made six first-half 3-pointers in 11 tries, the last a Dan Blankenship buzzer-beater that gave the visitors a 37-30 halftime lead.
Brian Werner's 10-footer 1:15 into the second half pushed the Bucknell lead into double digits for the first time. Chris Rodgers' third trey of the game gave the Bison their largest lead of 14 points at 55-39 with 13:08 remaining.
Colgate answered the Rodgers bomb with a 10-2 run to crawl within six at 55-49, but Rodgers' driving layup to beat the shot clock and Lalugba's thunderous fastbreak dunk highlighted a 7-1 spurt that pushed Bucknell's lead back into double figures.
Bucknell did not attempt a single field goal in the last three minutes, as Colgate began fouling. The Bison, who entered the game shooting just 50.0 percent from the line in league play, made 11 of 18 free throws down the stretch. The Raiders, who missed their first 11 3-point attempts, hit three from long range in the final 36 seconds to make things interesting, but Blankenship sank two free throws with 24 seconds left and Rodgers made 1 of 2 with seven seconds remaining to ensure Colgate would never have a shot to tie or take the lead.
Four Bucknell players scored in double figures and seven had at least seven points as the Bison reached the 80-point mark for the first time in 22 games. Blankenship totaled 14 points, while Rodgers, coming off a 1-for-13 nightmare at American on Saturday, made all three of his 3-point attempts and tied his career high with 12 points. Rodgers also led all players with four assists.
Bailey had not played since suffering a sprained MCL 30 seconds into the second half of Bucknell's win over Hofstra on Dec. 29. The All-Patriot League guard entered the game with Bucknell trailing 12-7 at the 15:21 mark of the first half. He made his first field-goal attempt 14 seconds later.
Pat Campolieta had 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Mark Linebaugh also scored 14 for Colgate. After starting 8-for-12 from the field, the Raiders shot 45.2 percent for the game, making only 4 of 20 from 3-point range and 15 of 27 from the foul line.
Bucknell returns home this Saturday to face Lehigh at 3:15 p.m.
